


Properly Wrap

by zarabithia



Category: Batgirl (Comic), DCU - Comicverse
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Mentor/Sidekick, Porn Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-07
Updated: 2012-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-30 18:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie already has a mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Properly Wrap

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the porn battle prompts: banter, battle, adrenaline and the dcu_freeforall prompt temptation.

She was Cassandra's mother. 

No, not biologically, but Gotham was full of people who understood that biology did not make you a family, and Barbara knew that just as well as many, and better than most.

She _was_ Cassandra's mother, and the way her heart yearned each time she heard the small, terse check-in messages that Cass sent from Hong Kong, Barbara was reminded of that role. 

There were days that Barbara was certain she had failed in that role completely, and other days that she allowed herself to wallow in self-pity on that failure. But today was not one of them, because today, Barbara traced the warm, battered skin of another Batgirl, yearned in entirely different ways, and contemplated a failure on a much larger level.

But she did think of Cass, nonetheless, when she said, "You should be proud of the work you did today," because she said the words to Cassandra's best friend, whose wide blue eyes widened further with the accompanying blush that came with every set of praise Barbara ever gave her.

Barbara liked the way that blush looked against Stephanie's pale skin, and with every quickening of her own pulse, Barbara wondered if this was why Bruce never gave them any damn praise growing up.

Perhaps he really was the greatest detective, after all. Perhaps he knew better. 

Maybe so. 

But they were sidekicks, and they were meant to be restless and reckless, and Barbara ignored the way that justification _sounded so very much like Dick Grayson's voice_ in her mind.

Very little could inspire Barbara to be as restless as the shirtless sidekick who was currently trusting Barbara to properly wrap her wounds. 

"I had a pretty great teacher," Stephanie finally said, in response to her praise and completely ignorant of the internal arguments that Barbara was having with herself. "But I'm not sure we can really count it as something to be proud of. I mean, my arms look like Aquaman went to town on them with his trident. I'm not really sure why he'd do that, but he seems to have an anger management issue, so it _could_ be possible, in theory." 

"Getting beat up is part of the job description in our line of work," Barbara said simply. "I would think you would remember that each time you came back to this cave."

A small look of horror came over Stephanie's face, and she expressed the guilt that Barbara should have. "Oh! Oh, my god, my mouth. Foot. Foot in," she babbled. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean - "

"It's okay, Steph. I was kidding," Barbara said, which wasn't entirely true, but the linger of what might have been wasn't Stephanie's issue to deal with. 

Barbara told herself that it had nothing to do with why she craved the shirtless girl in the chair beside her. Better to blame the adrenaline, the resemblance to a younger Dinah, a lingering student/teacher fetish, Batman, even pure carnal want for a pretty girl. 

All of those were good, acceptable excuses. Later, when Barbara was looking for an excuse, she would recycle through them with care. 

For now, she finished with the bandage. "And you know what always made me feel better when I wore the suit, after a long fight?" 

"Ben and Jerry's?"

"No."

"Häagen-Dazs?"

"Too cliche."

"If you say Robin's bad puns, I am going to be very disappointed." 

Barbara smiled and knew she could stop here. This was still in the realm of acceptable, ordinary banter that they engaged in every night after patrol. 

Instead, she continued, "Curling into bed and watching the most ridiculous sci fi movie I could find on cable. After a long night, it was nice to watch other people beating each other, with a little popcorn." 

"Mm." Stephanie reached for her top. "That does sound nice, and I bet the SyFy Channel was still spelled correctly back then, too, so - " Stephanie broke off abruptly as Barbara placed a hand on her knee. A blonde eyebrow quirked at her, silently asking what was wrong.

Stephanie was _rarely_ silent, so it was a night of firsts for both of them, in many respects. 

"I'm going to go treat myself to that indulgence right now, as matter of fact. Would you like to join me?" 

There was a beat, and another _blush_ (as if she'd been _praised_ ) and Barbara watched her protege consider all the many hints and lingering touches that Barbara had delivered over the past two weeks of training. 

They were, after all, working on Stephanie's detective skills, and Barbara watched for proof that it was paying off. They needed to work harder, because the realizations played out all over Stephanie's face. Stephanie wasn't Bruce or Barbara; she was a Dinah, a Dick, a brawler with a heart instead of a detective. Realizations took longer, but the fact that they meant more was plain for the world to see. 

That Barbara knew this did not change the desire to taste every one of those expressions as they crossed Stephanie's face. But Barbara waited, and she was patient. 

"I think that ... that would be very nice. I'd like that." 

Barbara let go of her knee then. "There is not going to be any popcorn, I'm afraid." 

"Better things to eat?" Stephanie blurted, and oh, how Barbara hoped the rambling and bluntness would continue once Stephanie was in her bed. 

"That is a terrible Robin-worthy pun, Batgirl."

"I know. But I was Robin. Once."

The comment was not meant to cut, but it did, because Barbara could not help but think of the Batgirl who had flown at Stephanie's side. 

Barbara _was_ Cassandra's mother.

But Barbara was _not_ Stephanie's mother. Stephanie had a mother of her own, and Barbara spared Crystal a thought. Poor Crystal who knew nothing about her daughter's nocturnal activities, which was probably for the best. 

"Our movie may take a while. You should call your mother and tell her you'll be getting in late," Barbara said to Stephanie. "You don't want her to worry."


End file.
